Light in the Shadows
by Valerie Faller
Summary: DISCLAIMER: I only own the OCs, understand? Summary: Lark, Oriole and Faolan are friends who grew up in Lumiose City. A year ago, Faolan left, leaving Lark heartbroken. Suddenly, a new boy named Luca who reminds Lark of Faolan moves in. But is everything as it appears to be, or are there secrets? Lark only knows one thing for certain: without light all in these shadows, she's lost.


**Me: Um... Hello there. It... Hasn't been all that long since I last updated for once...**

**N: But it _has_ been a long time since you let _me_ into the A/Ns, Valerie! Should I quit?**

**Me: What job? You _already_ quit, remember? Besides, I have a surprise for you anyway. But I'm not telling yet.**

**N: Is this gonna end up like that one fic?**

**Me: -shrug- I'm giving it a shot. But it also works as a one-shot, so... Yeah.**

**DISCLAIMER: If I owned Pokemon, I would likely be old, Japanese, and a guy. _I_, however, am a 14-year-old girl attempting to survive high school... Which is to say, Hell with fluorescent lighting.**

Two young girls who grew up together in Lumiose.

Mostly living on the city streets, until a few of the shopkeepers realized and allowed them to live there.

They had become a sort of family, cemented over time.

The ones who technically adopted them were the sisters who ran the book shop and the antique shop. Claire loved her books, and Marie her antiques.

Lark spent a lot of time reading in Claire's book shop, enough that Oriole often had to drag her outside.

As they grew older...

I can't _believe_ I get to work here! I literally grew up in this book shop, and now I get to work in it? It's a simple, easy job, too - as Claire always says, "Loving what you do is enough".

I don't work full-time, though - and there are circumstances in which I leave early.

Especially if one of the street kids drops by. They look up to me and Oriole, and they're a lot like we were - lost, and alone.

So when one of them drops by, I always spend time with them - enough that they call me and Oriole 'sisters' now.

Just a few more members for our family.

Why is this of any importance?

Just as I'm finishing my current book, the door opens, and in steps a little brunette girl with blue eyes.

"Sister, are you working today?"

"I'm working _every_ day, Maria," I laugh. "Just a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay, sister."

Maria's sweet. She loves everything, I _swear_. You could be a serial killer and threaten her life, and she'd offer you a cookie or something.

It's surprising to see someone on the streets so optimistic, especially when they're a sweet little kid with no place to call home.

So I put my book back on its shelf - the '_Personal Selections_' shelf, better known in Lumiose as the '_Songbird Shelf_', as only mine and Oriole's favorites ever end up on it.

"Okay. Now, how about we go have fun?"

You wouldn't guess Maria was a street kid, probably because Oriole and I take care of her. She dresses in fancy clothes, keeps her cat(an animal, not a Cat Pokémon) Rosalina with her _everywhere_, and generally acts like a normal kid her age.

We take care of the others as well, but not always as personally - the other shopkeepers care for them as well. Maria is a lot like me, so I personally take care of her.

So we walk out the door together, Rosalina at her heels and one of my own Cat Pokémon following me. Probably my Liepard, Nathaniel, or his adopted Purrloin daughter, Grace.

We walk all along the streets together, like always.

"Want to get ice cream?" I ask, sweating a little. Lumiose is _hot_ some days.

"Okay! Let's go!" Maria races off ahead, and Nathaniel and I are struggling to keep up.

See, Oriole and I _are_ Pokémon Trainers - we have been on adventures of our own, which is how I have a majority of my Pokémon. I can't always care for all of them, so Professor Sycamore, who has his lab here, is always happy to care for the ones I can't keep with me.

Maria gets plain, vanilla ice cream, and I get mint, because that's my favorite.

"Can we look through some of the stores?" Maria asks.

"Okay, let's go."

I'll fully admit that when it comes to Maria, I tend to be a pushover. She asks for something, chances are she'll get it.

But hey, the kid spend three years of her life who-knows-where, and she certainly wasn't spoiled when we found her - besides, it's not like money is hard for me to come by. Training, my pay, I even do Coordinating and other things, too.

So yeah, I'm lucky Maria hasn't figured out that I'll do pretty much anything for her yet. Not that she'd take advantage of that - she's a sweet kid.

I see her looking over stuffed Poké Dolls - things that I still love to this day. I have a large collection in my room...

"They're _cute_," says Maria. "One day, I'm going to be a Coordinator!"

That's her dream. Simple and easy-to-accomplish.

My own dreams are varied, especially when it comes to my Pokémon. I _do_ want to become a Top Coordinator, but a lot of other things, too.

For now, though? I'm happy to just be Lark, the Trainer bookworm.

"You can pick a few, if you like," I tell Maria, knowing that something as simple as a stuffed Pokémon can be the closest companion there is, besides actual Pokémon - and I haven't found one she's had much of a connection with yet.

"Really?"

"Yes," I smile. "I have a soft spot for things like this," I add, nostalgically.

Really, I do. After all, back when Nathaniel was just a Purrloin and I was just a little girl, this was the exact place I'd come to get little stuffed creatures.

I remember whenever I was sad as a kid, Nathaniel would come here without me.

Apparently, when that happened, Rachel knew something was up, so she'd give Nathaniel something to bring back for me.

It always worked...

Anyway, enough of a trip down memory lane.

Maria begins looking through the plushies, trying to pick one she really likes.

"Which one's _your_ favorite, sister?"

"I've always wondered myself," Rachel notes, joining us. "Do tell, dear Songbird."

"You ought to know by now there's more than one," I laugh. "But if I _had_ to pick just one, it'd be that Purrloin I've always had," I smile at Rachel. She handmade a lot of the plushies in my room, as gifts for one occasion or another.

"Ah, I remember that one. You still have it, then?"

"Of course," I reply. "It's been there for me almost as long as Nathaniel himself has - my entire life."

"Mrrow," Nathaniel purrs. He means '_I'm not leaving anytime soon, either._' After years of living with Pokémon, you tend to pick up what they're saying.

"I don't expect you to," I tell him.

Eventually, Maria ends up with a collection of cute plushies as a gift from Rachel. A Purrloin is among them, as well as Eevee and Skitty. A Fennekin, too.

"Lark, why don't you pick one?" Rachel asks.

I blink. "Me?"

"Yes, _you_. I know you still love them, after all."

"You've got me there," I nod, and begin searching through the pile myself.

Eventually I find something - a stuffed Rattatta.

"Well, have fun, dears," says Rachel as Maria and I leave.

"We will," we call back.

"So, where do you want to go now, Maria?" I inquire.

"...Home," she says finally.

I walk her back to the bookstore we now _both_ called 'home', leaving her with Claire for now and deciding to walk to the greenhouses.

I clip my team(except Nathaniel) to my dress sash and walk out the door, crossing a few streets to reach the greenhouse.

A surprise waits as I walk in, in the form of a boy my age with blond hair and brown eyes.

"Hello," he says brightly.

Reading his nametag, I see his name is Luca.

'_Hm, quite a name,_' I think. '_Bringer of light, huh?_'

"Are you a regular customer here or-" Luca looks honestly curious, and I open my mouth to answer when Will, the _owner_ of the greenhouse, walks out of the back.

"Hey, Lark," he grins. "Luca, this is the girl I told you about. Lark, this is my new apprentice, Luca."

"Nice to finally meet you," Luca smiles at me. "I've heard a lot about you already."

"I'm surprised it took so long, seeing as you're both Trainers," Will shrugs. "So, Lark, what are you here for today?"

"Just to look for a bit. I just took Maria around the city," I answer.

"Ah, I see. Maybe you could do an old man a favor?"

I laugh, because Will is in _no way_ old, but nod. "Okay, but I don't see any old men."

"Fine, then. Do _me_ a favor? Show Luca some of the flowers, will you?"

"Oh, no problem," I smile. "Come on."

Luca follows me and we walk through the greenhouse silently for a minute.

Eventually, he starts to ask the names of the flowers, and I tell him each one.

"What about this?"

I smile a little at the one he's pointing at.

"Moonlace," I answer. "It's one of the _really_ special flowers, it gives off light in the dark..."

Truthfully, I keep a jar of fireflies and a moonlace plant at my desk and bedside respectively. I'm not afraid of the dark, but I always welcome a little light.

"It's very pretty." he nods. "What other kinds of flowers are there? Special ones, I mean?"

"Well, I'm not familiar with most of them. I don't even know the names, mostly. I know the laceflowers, that's really all, and they just give off light. Firelace, icelace, featherlace, even starlace."

"I see. ...Will seems to know you well. He never said where you stay."

I smile a little. "Claire's bookstore. But you can find me almost anywhere. Why?"

"I was going to ask if sometime you wanted to battle," he admits.

I smile again. "I'm okay with battling you now, if we go to a proper battlefield."

"Really?" Luca's eyes seem to light up at that, so I nod. "Wonderful! Let's go."

I take him to the battlefield that's rarely used, through a couple alleys and down a side street.

"Okay, one-on-one?" I ask.

He nods, and says, "Any words of wisdom to impart before we begin?"

I shake my head. "There's time to share wise words later."

He nods again. "All right, let's take her down, Taro!"

The Talonflame soars as it enters the field.

I smile, this time mischievously. "Let's show him how silk can hide steel, Nathaniel."

Nathaniel nods and enters the battlefield.

Luca, confused, manages to say, "Taro - Flamethrower!"

"Dodge," I call calmly.

Nathaniel dodges it easily.

"How did you-"

"A close bond, forged over fourteen years," I answer his question before he can finish asking. "If you don't mind me asking, how long have you had Taro?"

"Two years," Luca shrugs. "I caught him as a Fletchling."

"Oh. Well, interesting. Nathaniel, Pursuit!"

To make a long story short, Nathaniel and I won the match.

Rather than become upset or frustrated, though, Luca stays calm and normal.

"That was a good match," he grins. "I'm surprised you're better than me."

"Like I said, fourteen years," I shrug.

Luca nods and looks at his watch. "Oh! I have to get back to the greenhouse! Goodbye, Lark."

He waves as he leaves, and I smile and wave back.

If you look into the upstairs of the bookstore, you'll find what is essentially mine, Oriole and Maria's living space.

Pictures line every wall, of every kind of occasion and place. Everywhere we've been, everything we've seen.

Where pictures aren't lining the walls, there are paintings and poems and quotes.

Quite a few poems and quotes are on my bedroom door, all around a picture of me, Oriole, Maria and our Pokémon, together and happy. Along with one other person - Faolan. My old friend who left Kalos last year. Luca looked a little bit like him, actually. Only one other picture is on my door, otherwise so covered in writing, and it's of just me and Faolan, alone together in the rain.

The quote beneath the picture of me, Oriole, Maria and Faolan reads, '_This is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning._'

The one beneath me and Faolan, _that_ one reads, in my own scribbled handwriting, '_I never knew it would be this hard to lose something I never had._'

I loved my best friend, and then he had to leave. I'm almost the same, but not quite...

I'll never be quite the same until I see him again...

**Me: How was it?**

**N: Good, and for once the A/N is _short_. So, what's my surprsie?**

**Me: You get to upload stuff now, too. And you can sleep on the cot in the living room if you want.**

**N: And risk that _monster_ your mother calls a dog killing me? No thanks, I'll stick with the closet. But thanks, it's appreciated. ...Why are you suddenly being so nice, anyway?**

**Me: I beat Pokemon X today. Like, this morning. So... Welcome back to the Internet! Wanna watch Sailor Moon later or something?**

**N: Yeah, sure. And... I'll try to be nicer, too...**

**Me: Deal. Oh, and to any readers: I don't mind if you don't review; I actually write mostly for myself and not the audience. I'm grateful for the few I have received, though. ^.^**

**N: She has low self-esteem, though. I better go start writing.**


End file.
